Dukan Diet: What To Know

Overview

The aim:

Weight loss.

The claim:

You’ll lose up to 10 pounds within the first week, and continue at a clip of two to four pounds a week until you reach your goal weight – all while eating as much as you want (of the approved foods, of course). If you follow the rules to the letter, you’ll never regain.

The theory:

Counting calories isn’t the key to weight loss. Protein is. It’s a weight-loss powerhouse –  it’s filling, takes time and work to digest, and has very few calories for each gram of food compared to carb-heavy foods. When protein supplies the majority of a diet, and fats and carbs are all but squeezed out, fast weight loss ensues. (Limiting carbs, the body’s preferred energy source, forces the body to turn to an alternative fuel – stored fat.) That’s motivation enough for dieters to follow a strict plan that rewards the faithful by slowly adding back the bread, cheese, and fruit they so dearly missed.

Balanced Diet

These diets fall within accepted ranges for the amount of protein, carbs, fat and other nutrients they provide.

Pros & Cons

• All-you-can-eat
• Filling

• Lots of rules
• Could fall short nutritionally